John Carter Fan Trailer is suddenly everywhere….!

We cut our trailer back on Super Bowl Sunday in a fit of post Super-Bowl hubris and then posted it to YouTube where it lived quietly until Andrew Stanton discovered it two nights ago and tweeted about it. Now it looks like it’s getting picked up by a number of outlets and that would seem to be a good thing — anything to help get some positive mojo going for this deserving film.

4 comments

Some of the negative comments about it I saw on AICN do fall into the “they cannot be this stupid!” category, but overall, the majority of comments I’ve read about your trailer have been very positive.

I’m getting the feeling more and more that the success of this film (marketing wise) will ride entirely on that trailer. Disney owes you a huge debt of gratitude. I’m not kidding! I’ve already read literally hundreds of tweets and YouTube comments alone stating that only after seeing that fan made trailer did they decide to at least check it out, most were definitely on board. Let’s hope Disney releases just a bit more footage, like you said make a trailer that explains character development or something. Trust me, everyone is hooked. Job well done 🙂

Well that really seems to have hit the spot, judging not only by the linked articles, but most importantly, by the comments that attend them, most being along the lines of “Now I get it and now I want to see it”.

You must also be cheered by the number of comments that read “hire him”.

“It’s better in part because it shows Mars, instead of trying to hide it. Marketing campaigns ruled by fear aren’t likely to succeed.”

Sheridan Passell has the point right there: the romance.

The problem, I think, has been marketers thinking far too much about what their target demographics like and trying to shoehorn the film into a “genre” based on superficial, easily-identifiable aspects at the expense of what could make it great – and what makes any film great, is the story (hence that damned white ape in the arena scene – I have to say, when I see it, I’m likely to grit my teeth through it and think to myself, “Right, now that’s over, we’re back to the story again”).

Personally, I’m quite heartened – especially since the lifting of the embargo on tweets at least. Social media can make or break films these days, and since the tweets are overwhelmingly positive.

I wonder if there’s enough footage online to cobble together a trailer that explains the characters and their role in the story in turn?

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